The present invention relates to (RS)-2-(2,3-dihydro-5-hydroxy-4,6,7-trimethylbenzofuranyl) acetic acids and 2-(2,3-dihydro-5-acyloxy-4,6,7-trimethylbenzofuranyl) acetic acids and esters thereof, the process for producing them and their relevant therapeutical use as mucoregulators and anti-ischemic agents.
It is well-known that the damage caused by free radicals and oxidizing metabolites forming starting from oxygen under pathological conditions affect various organs including respiratory apparatus, the brain, and the heart, and are involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory processes, blood platelet aggregation, tumoral processes, myocardial and cerebral necrosis.
In particular, as to the respiratory apparatus, oxygen free radicals contribute, by inactivation of the inhibitor of alpha-1-protease, to the genesis of pulmonary emphysema and to the amplification of inflammatory processes.
As to the central nervous system, the oxygen free radicals are important mediators of the tissural damage occuring during reperfusion after cerebral ischemia.
As to myocardial ischemia, the oxygen free radicals contribute to cause myocardial damage both during ischemia and during post-ischemic reperfusion.
Substances having antioxidizing and radical scavenger activity, by neutralizing oxygen reactive metabolites, can be useful therapeutic agents for the treatment of pulmonary emphysema and of the inflammatory processes of the mucous membranes of the respiratory apparatus and for the sequences of cerebral and cardiac infarct.